1. Field
The invention relates to flight conveyors for moving easily bruised crops such as potatoes, apples, peaches, tomatoes and the like, and especially to discharge conveyors whereby the crops are discharged from a harvesting or similar processing machine to a bulk transport means.
2. Prior Art
Conveyors with solid transverse flights of rubber or other composition, particularly solid flights attached to rubber conveyor belts and the like, have been known in the art. Also, it is known in the art to place small fingers upright on a rubber belt for transporting the crops on top the fingers. U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,534 depicts this.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,050 to Anderson et al a conveyor structure is disclosed wherein individual link members have relatively tall, slender fingers extending substantially vertically from the link member and staggered on alternate links to receive potatoes and to hold the potatoes between said fingers to prevent the potatoes from rolling and becoming bruised. The fingers are spaced so that the potatoes will be received between the fingers. Each link of the conveyor has fingers thereon and the fingers of one link are offset substantially in the middle of the space between fingers of adjacent links.